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Honeymoon

4/22/2015

18 Comments

 
2.53
B-
  • There's a line between can't-look-away and unpleasant, and while I think Honeymoon approaches it, it doesn't cross it. - Jon
  • I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone, but the final 20 minutes were nerve-wracking. - Bryan
  • I found something very interesting and real in Honeymoon that makes me glad I watched it. - Phil 
Initial Review by Jon

I promise I'm not on a 'married couples in the woods' kick, though after my last pick of The One I Love, you'd be forgiven for thinking so.  I didn't even think about The One I Love when I was deciding on Honeymoon, but they share a lot of similarities.  Reassessing who it exactly is you've chosen to spend your life with is there.  Trying and failing to have an idealized experience, check.  When Bea mentioned the ducks, and how the wooden ones were just trying to blend in, I was concerned we were going to have to talk about doppelgangers again.  Thankfully, Honeymoon distances itself from The One I Love, unless there was a deleted scene in the latter where Elisabeth Moss pulls a tentacle out of herself. 

I have been giving horror a second chance, but very much on my terms.  I still think torture porn is about the most despicable thing out there, and home invasion films are also off the table.  This seemed indie enough to not indulge in the worst aspects of the genre.  To my pleasant surprise, there's plenty of body horror.  I do like those kind of films, where characters bodies turn against them and the director revels in squishes and weird anatomy.  See The Fly for my favorite example, or almost anything David Cronenberg's ever done.  Also The Thing, and Black Swan.  To paraphrase Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle, the rotten-ness of that kind of grotesquery has a little bit of allure to it, where you know you should look away but you also want to take in every grisly detail.  Honeymoon logs a great body horror scene, capped off with the little antenna flick at the end that I thought was just perfect.  I shouted a little bit at that moment, which I think is why people watch horror movies in the first place.

I'm really focusing on the end, but I thought about 80% of Honeymoon was very well made.  The surroundings are shot beautifully, with careful attention paid to make them appear as isolated as possible.  The space of the cabin is well-established early on with a tracking shot, such that I knew where every room was in relation to each other.  The light and the disconcerting noise that accompanies it sets the stage, and the meeting with Bea's old friend at Restaurant (Their specialty is food) spins off the multiple versions of this movie that could've existed, particularly some kind of Straw Dogs imitation.  I feel like the exact right amount of time is spent before the sleepwalking and the film starts in earnest.  Once that begins, the two leads amp up their performances to what I felt was a very naturalistic place, especially Harry Treadaway's Paul.  His reaction once he gets Bea back inside felt novel for a movie like this, such that he isn't yelling at her to tell him what happened and artificially creating tension, but instead pacing and wide-eyed and confused/relieved.  The electronic, atonal score is also very well used with its rises and falls.  It's all fine-tuned to create dread and intrigue, something I think first-time director Leigh Janiak very much succeeded at.

The 20% of the film that I was less keen on was the first fifth.  That quintile should be used to establish stakes, which is the survival of their relationship after the movie.  I might be alone in this, but I don't think Treadaway's and Rose Leslie's chemistry was all there in those first scenes, and it was a bit of a lost opportunity.  Compared to everyone's favorite movie, Frances Ha, Honeymoon didn't match the level of investment I had in the central relationship, though they both used their first 10 or 15 minutes establishing, or attempting to establish how well this pair of people are in synch.  This isn't fully formed, but I thought the dialogue was too cutesy and the delivery was a little stilted.  Interested to know what the rest of you thought.

Leslie really puts herself through the wringer for this, and I think it pays off very well.  With Game of Thrones actors, I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of them are only good at this one thing.  While I anxiously await being proven wrong by Emilia Clarke or Maisie Williams, I can confidently strike Rose Leslie off that list.  Having to essentially play two characters, I think she nails the subtle differences between pre- and post-sleepwalking Bea.  The pre- version is more natural and sweet, while the post-version is slightly nervous and trying too hard.  The big climax is not just a horror victim montage of screaming and panic.  Some of that's there but much less than a worse movie would've asked of her.  The calm on her face when she's tied to the bed is unsettling, and anything could've happened in that moment.  Maybe she speaks in a strange voice, maybe things start coming out of her mouth to attack Paul, maybe the bed levitates, or maybe all of the above.  That calm comes back when she's putting Paul in the water, and I appreciated the way Janiak withholds a view of her decaying face until the last possible moment in the boat.  It's a strong performance that doesn't get worn out by Janiak just leaving the camera on her while she repeatedly screams, like other horror movies might.

There's several thematic threads, but the one I most grabbed onto is disappointment.  As Bea says when Paul has no interest in pretending everything's fine, "You're ruining this."  When you've put a bunch of planning and anticipation into some event and it's not going like you thought it would, or an alien has inseminated you with sentient tentacles, that attempt to will yourself into having a good time is something I can relate to.  I'm sure we've all had some experience where the picture in your head did not come close to real life, or you're trying to recreate some previous, spontaneous good time and it's just not working.  That kind of disappointment can really sting, and aliens or not, there's a version of Honeymoon that's exactly that.  The curdling of expectations into small-m mediocrity is my takeaway here.

Though it gets off to a wobbly start, Honeymoon is well-structured, well-acted, and effective at drawing out the reactions it wants from its audience.  I do wish the two leads had better chemistry in the good times, but it doesn't break the movie.  The ending also engages in a little too much yelling and hysteria, but maybe that's a natural reaction to the kind of impromptu abortion we witness on screen.  There's a line between can't-look-away and unpleasant, and while I think Honeymoon approaches it, it doesn't cross it.  Because it doesn't indulge in my least-favorite aspects of the genre (jump scares, exploitation) and thoroughly draws me in, Honeymoon gets a B.

18 Comments
Bryan
4/23/2015 08:06:40 am

Jon wraps this one up well, however I have a few disagreements. The first two-thirds of this were garbage. There wasn't anything going on other than something weird and unintriguing with the lights at night and the couple at the restaurant.

The couple's chemistry wasn't spectacular, but not every couple is a Blair and Shane. There are plenty of people whom we all know that seemingly have no chemistry other than calling each other shmoopie. I don't think that takes away from the point of the movie - it just makes things boring to watch. But watching a couple truly in sync isn't enjoyable either.

At this point I'm at a D for this movie and I have the feeling Jon is really longing for something more with his relationships - this fascination with young married couple movies is a bit odd, but to each his own ;-) I'm not sure if it's because I switched from watching on the computer to a TV with surround sound, but things really amped up once Paul spoke with Annie at the restaurant and found the bloody hat. At that point we know Paul is dead, but we don't know when.

I'll echo Jon's sentiments that we don't know what will happen with the bed, the aliens, or really anything in the latter stages of this movie. The directors continued to tease us - it was nice. They also didn't go overboard with the gore.

When Paul wakes up in the boat, I thought she had cast him out into the lake on his own, how sweet. I did wonder how he hadn't floated to shore, but that was quickly answered by the best line of the movie - Bea tells Paul she'll hide him in the water.

The scene cuts to her gnarly face at just the right time. I think the directors should have ended with Bea watching the movie in and out of focus, but much like The One I Love, the directors/writers/whomever added 2 minutes extra that truly hurt the movie.

This one started at a C, sunk quickly to a D/D-, but recovers to a C+. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone, but the 15 of the final 20 minutes were nerve-racking.

Writing is hard with newborn-brain.

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Jon
4/23/2015 08:48:07 am

I think the married-couples trend is about me wanting to knock smaller indie movies off of my radar, and smaller indie movies tend to have tiny budgets, which means fewer cast members, which means tight stories about married couples. There's also the desire to fill out the Best Actress category, and female leads are increasingly showing up in small indies.

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Jon
4/23/2015 08:52:00 am

*only in small indies, that is.

Bryan
4/23/2015 08:57:47 am

I kind of noticed during the show, but this movie only has 4 characters. Mystery alien-man didn't get IMDB credit.

Jon
4/23/2015 09:11:00 am

So one more than The One I Love. Apparently, in addition to filling out Best Actress, I'm taking a stand against Best Supporting Actor bloat.

Bryan
4/23/2015 09:29:45 am

I nominate Will for Best Supporting Actor - he really channeled that rage for 95 seconds.

Sean
4/23/2015 04:37:57 pm

"I'm sure we've all had some experience where the picture in your head did not come close to real life, or you're trying to recreate some previous, spontaneous good time and it's just not working."

I'm pretty sure you used almost the exact same sentence for The One I Love.

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Jon
4/23/2015 04:41:24 pm

I was very much thinking of your review of The One I Love when I wrote that.

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Sean
4/23/2015 05:12:47 pm

You have an amazing memory, I didn't even remember that was my thoughts.

Sean
4/23/2015 05:01:41 pm

Maybe I should've gone into this movie with absolutely no prior knowledge but the post told me it was going to be horror so I only half paid attention during the opening 1/5 that Jon and Bryan werent huge fans of. I also watched in 2 sittings on purpose, and cut off when I felt the tone moving into the direction of the meat of the movie.

So I'm basically judging as horror parts only. I disagree with Jon's views on torture porn. Torture for the sake of torture I agree, but the original Saw and even parts 2 and 3 are very strong movies. My point being, context matters more than type of horror. Now onto Honeymoon in particular, huge bonus points from me for delaying the reveal and leaving options on the table. When we first meet Will and Annie we have no reason to suspect they are experiencing exactly what Paul and Bea are. We simply assume what Paul assumes that Will was a little too happy to see Bea and vice versa and the Will Annie relationship doesn't seem totally healthy at the moment. As Paul starts to do more and more investigating we still dont get a whole picture. I did get pissed that they zoomed in on her 3 4'S and 2 6's yahtzee roll like it meant something. The more Paul investigated the more Harry Treadway shined with his crazy paranoid eyes. I also agree that Leslie was best when tied to the bed. Her trashing was pretty solid but not as good as her whispered "if I cry will you let me go" One question, did the crazy tentacle abortion untie her, how'd she get out of bed so quickly?

I'm with Bryan on thinking they should've went to black after showing her scaly face looking down into the water and not had her and Annie go out to meet the alien dudes.

I liked alot about the movie but didn't really care, maybe shouldve done it in 1 sitting maybe I just wasnt in the mood but despite the good things I've said I feel like B-/C+

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Bryan
4/24/2015 04:56:33 am

"When we first meet Will and Annie we have no reason to suspect they are experiencing exactly what Paul and Bea are."

I disagree. I thought this is blatant foreshadowing. We knew it was coming - we just didn't know how or when.

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Phil
4/27/2015 01:47:04 am

I don't get to say this often, so I have to jump on the opportunity.

I AGREE WITH BRYAN. Their only role in the movie was foreshadowing and discovery. Otherwise, they would have been pointless.

Jon
4/24/2015 07:26:25 am

All the Saw movies have been added to Netflix. The first one is the only one I would not veto.

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Phil
4/27/2015 01:49:22 am

I love the first Saw movie. It's not perfect, but there's a reason it spawned a franchise. It's our generation's only real horror franchise.

Phil
4/27/2015 01:32:05 am

“Honeymoon” hit far too close to home. Because I know damn well, if my wife & I found ourselves in this situation, this is EXACTLY how it would go down.

I found myself relating to Paul from the word go. The early scene where he makes the joke about her “womb” and Bea attempts to dissect the language into a discussion of kids… to steal a line from Riley in The One I Love’s review cycle…. THAT SHIT HAPPENS. Paul likes to joke around and has an ultimate goal of making sure Bea is happy – a noble goal for any partner, and one I can very much relate to. There are some pretty hokey scenes driving this point home (“You’re my chance” falls into the all-time cringe-worthy lines I’ve ever heard in a movie), probably to the movie’s detriment. By the time we get to the sleep-walking and whatnot, I had to pull myself back in. At that point, the parallels between Paul and me became downright frightening. Whenever there is a problem at home, I am very much a “fixer.” If there is an issue, I never expect “remain status quo and ride this out” to be a solution. Paul has the same mentality – maybe, for the most part, all men do. We’ve all seen the sort of trope where the man will try to figure out what is wrong, the woman will say “nothing” and brush it off, and the man is slowly driven insane trying to figure out what is wrong. Again, THAT SHIT HAPPENS. So of course I feel for Paul going nuts trying to figure out what the issue at hand is… I don’t know if I’d resort to breaking and entering, but I can’t say for certain I wouldn’t.

Most of you have mentioned the bed scene as your most tense scene, and I think I agree. All of that was very well done. However, the moment Bea says “I just wanted these last few days,” I went into full-on dread mode. I just felt horrible for Paul that he didn’t say “fuck it” and just run out of the cabin at that point. But again, I would have done the same thing. I would have demanded more answers, investigated more, and probably ended up at the bottom of a lake. It certainly helped in my relating to this story on a hypothetical sense that Rose Leslie and Harry Treadway played their roles very well. I thought both were great in what was basically a two-person play with Will & Annie added in purely for foreshadowing and to give Paul a chance to figure out what was happening. I feel like a college version of me would have seen this movie and thought Paul was an idiot for missing all the signs that this situation was hopeless. I married version of me pities him and understands his plight. No worries Paul, I’d be right at the bottom of that lake with you.

I really don’t have much else to say about the movie b/c it would just belabor points I’ve already made, and my own relation to this movie basically kills any chance of me drawing out themes like Kissel did. So I’ll just add this point. Kids, when you’re planning your honeymoon, I have one hyphenated word for you: ALL-INCLUSIVE. Weddings are stressful as shit. Once you’re finished, all you will want to do is lay on a beach, get drunk, and have a staff tell you when it’s time to eat and plan every event for you. Just trust me on this. That may sound extremely boring. You are extremely wrong. Anyone who goes off to some cabin for their honeymoon where they have to do their own cooking and whatnot is a crazy person that is not to be trusted.

Ultimately, I found something very interesting and real in Honeymoon that makes me glad I watched it. However, I would struggle recommending this to anyone. It is very slow to get going, and there just wasn’t much content there for even an 85 minute movie. Maybe it was because I kind of got the relationship rather quickly b/c I could relate to it. This felt like an idea too long for a short, but too lacking for a full movie. Still, it gets a slightly elevated grade for how effectively it made me never want to spend a week in a cabin.

+ Relationship was real and relatable to me
+ Harry Treadway and Rose Leslie play their parts well
- First half was extremely slow

Grade: B

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Sean
4/28/2015 02:26:33 am

My main takeaway from the Honeymoon discussion is that my One I Love comment is an early favorite for a Mediocrity

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Phil
4/28/2015 03:01:02 am

It was simple but affecting.

Cooker
5/4/2015 07:18:01 am

Honeymoon
Hmm. I don’t know. They seemed like a sweet couple and all, but I didn’t really care that much about these two doomed honeymooners until the very end. And only a little.
This movie had an issue with pacing. It took too long for something to happen and when things finally did start happening, they weren’t really interesting. Warning: Beware any restaurant simply named Restaurant. What ever happened to Will anyway? Did I miss it? I was half expecting to see the corpses of the two men anchored at the bottom of the lake.
So, Bea (Paul’s “honey bee”, Aww, adorable) is found naked in the woods one night and she doesn’t remember anything. She forgets simple tasks (battering French toast), she has bite marks on her thighs, talks to herself, jumps in the lake fully clothed. Bea has gone cuckoo. I was getting a strong Mothman Prophecies vibe from this.
Later on she starts writing simple trivial things about herself down in a book. This is when I started thinking an alien body snatcher situation happened in the woods and frequently thought of Kang and/or Kodos saying, “I am Clinton.” This was the part that I found interesting when Paul started questioning her motives behind doing this as well as toward the end when he started asking her questions like where they went on their first date or how he proposed, things she should’ve known if she wasn’t a cuckoo alien.
Then there’s blood everywhere. And I mean everywhere. He has a tug of war with her crotch, pulls out this snake-like creature and ahh! And they talked about having a baby earlier. And I liked when she confessed to something bad happening to her in the woods. I was waiting for a, “no shit, you think so?”
The ending was okay. I did feel something for Paul when his wife drowned him. Again, only a little. And then the two Alien Mine looking wives went off to I presume Planet Cuckoo.
Not a bad attempt. I’ve seen worse. It was an independent film. The pace was too slow and not enough happened that was interesting in my opinion. I think only having four characters worked out well. Too much blood, not enough amusement, and ew. Grade: C

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